The Greeks and Romans, as well as others who wrote on papyrus or ordinary leather, considered the scroll the most suitable format for writing on. This may seem surprising today as the scroll is less convenient for writing, reading, or stacking on shelves than a codex, a set of individual sheets bound together in the manner of a modern book.
The codex format might have appeared under the Hittites as early as the second millennium BC, but this theory has been disputed. A more accepted theory is that the codex format came from the practice of writing on a number of flexible wooden or metallic sheets that could be bound together. A codex was made by binding together a number of square pieces of parchment all folded along the middle. It was then protected by a cover of durable material such as parchment, thick leather, wood, or metal.
Another advantage of the codex was that it was easier to decorate the text with drawings, which is called illumination. It was possible to draw on papyrus scrolls using water-based colors, but the artist could not use other techniques and materials such as gold leaf. Artists found it easier to illuminate a square page with a theme linked to the text on the page itself or on the page opposite.
These advantages led to the spread of the codex as the format of choice and of parchment as the material of choice. The educated classes, however, continued to view papyrus with respect so it continued to be used well into the sixth century AD
The codex format might have appeared under the Hittites as early as the second millennium BC, but this theory has been disputed. A more accepted theory is that the codex format came from the practice of writing on a number of flexible wooden or metallic sheets that could be bound together. A codex was made by binding together a number of square pieces of parchment all folded along the middle. It was then protected by a cover of durable material such as parchment, thick leather, wood, or metal.
Another advantage of the codex was that it was easier to decorate the text with drawings, which is called illumination. It was possible to draw on papyrus scrolls using water-based colors, but the artist could not use other techniques and materials such as gold leaf. Artists found it easier to illuminate a square page with a theme linked to the text on the page itself or on the page opposite.
These advantages led to the spread of the codex as the format of choice and of parchment as the material of choice. The educated classes, however, continued to view papyrus with respect so it continued to be used well into the sixth century AD
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